Burping and crying mechanism for dolls



y 13, 1954 M. v. GRAHAM BURPING AND CRYING MECHANISM FOR DOLLS Fild Nov. 28, 1949 MURIEL V. GRAHAM l lldrllll'l 1 w &

Zhwentor *M Gtttornegs Patented May 18, 1954 BURPING AND CRYING MECHANISM FOR DOLLS Muriel V. Graham, Redondo, Wash.

Application November 28, 1949, Serial No. 129,798

2 Claims. 1

My present invention is a combined crying and burping mechanism, for installation in the neck portion of dolls having air-tight, yieldable, resilient bodies. My mechanism is designed to give a burping sound as the body of the doll is squeezed and then a prolonged crying sound as the pressure is released from the body and the natural resilience of it draws air back into the body of the doll.

In the long continued endeavor to make baby 7 dolls more accurately simulate life-like characteristics, a wide variety of noise-making elements have been provided. The majority of these, however, go far afield from the optimum goal and in most cases do not reproduce any sounds that are characteristic of infants. In my present in vention I believe I have provided a very practical solution of this problem in that my mechanism provides for a sequential production of sounds such as are normally created by the average infant. It has been found, for instance, that after feeding especially there is a pronounced tendency for the infant to attempt, by burping, to discharge the air that has been taken in with its milk and normallythe sensation of burping causes the infant to whimper or cry for at least short periods. My present mechanism accurately and truthfully reproduces these two sounds of burping and whimpering or crying in the exact sequence it is normally produced by the baby. Therefore, I believe I have provided a very realistic and lifelike sound-producing de- VICE.

My device consists of a burping device following to a degree the principles shown in my copending application, Serial No. 13,800, filed March 9, 1948, now Patent No. 2,606,399. This device operates only when the body is squeezed and air is forced out through the burning tube. This tube is of a flat, valve type, quite generally referred to as a Thomas valve, and permits air to pass only in one direction and that is outwardly. Now in order to employ the resilient body of the doll, which is usually formed of rubber or rubber substitutes, as a bulb, it follows that as soon as the air is expelled from it by squeezing the body of the doll, it is necessary that the air be replaced and this I have provided with an air duct having a second mechanism which employs a second Thomas valve which admits air only on the intake cycle and as the air comes in rather slowly, due to the action of the rubber body formed on the principles of a bulb, a reed is inserted in the air channel so that a prolonged crying or whimpering sound can be produced. Thus I have provided a mechanism which moves air in two directions as it is needed, provides means for expelling the air and insures that the air follows a pre-determined course and in so doing achieves the two sounds-the burping sound and. the crying or whimpering sound.

The principal object of my present invention, therefore, is to provide a unit adapted to control the ingress and egress of air to a resilient doll body.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby a burping sound, of short duration, is formed as a resilient dolls body is squeezed and then when the pressure is released, a crying sound is produced for a reasonable period of time.

, A further object of my invention is. to pro vide a sound-producing unit that may be as sembled as a complete sub-assembly and then inserted into the neck of a wide variety of dolls.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a sound-producing mechanism in which the sound producing elements can be modified from time to time to meet marketing conditions without causing the obsolescence of the mechanism or its production equipment as a whole.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from the description and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehended or are important in the device.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through portions of a doll body and head and showing my mechanism in place, a small portion of which is also shown in section;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the center line of my mechanism, which is shown in the same general sense as the shov ing of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, the numeral iii designates the main housing or supporting member for my mechanism. This unit may preferably be molded of rubber or synthetic rubbers, although where conditions warrant, the same may be made of various plastic or similar materials. It is provided at its upper end with a mounting flange I2, arranged to suitably engage the upper sur face It of the neck of the resilient doll body it. Normally the bodies of so-called molded baby dolls, which usually are made of rubber, are provided with a flange as M, which in turn produces the groove, as it, used in seating the head iii of the doll. The general form of the various bodies are formed substantially after the showing of Figure l and in order to hold my mechanism securely in position, I have provided the outwardly extending boss as 22, adapted to engage the under side of the same portion, so as to provide a secure anchorage for my mechanism.

In the lower portion of housing HI, I provide a cylindrical bore 2 1, into which is inserted the plug member 26. Any suitable material'niay be used for this plug memberwood is most commonly used although not an essential material. The plug is through bored, as at 28, and is turned to a smaller diameter at 39, so as to provide a seat and securing means for the burping tube 32. It has been found by experience that the most satisfactory burping mechanism will be achieved when the burping tube is bent sideways from its initial vertical axis, after the showing of Figure 2, and asatisfactory means of producing this distortion is to have wall 34 of housing to angularly disposed. Thus the tube 32 is given the necessary distortion to produce the burping sound and a very economical means is provided for this result. It will be noted in Figures 1 and 2 that the extreme end of burping tube 32, as 3%, extends above the upper surface of flange i2, so that it can vibrate at this point without the dampening effect of support of any kind. Attention is further invited to the characteristic of this tube which is essential for the entire functioning of my mechanism, in that the tube which is normally circular in cross section, is flattened at its end and must be distorted as air passes through it in making the burping sound. It then follows that a closure or check valve is produced as against any air that may attempt to come into the doll body through this channel.

In order to produce in my mechanism a crying or whimpering sound of considerable duration, I provide a tube M! for the ingress of air into body [6 of the doll. This tube passes through a body'sized opening 42, so that it will be air tight at this point and then the extreme upper end as 44 is normally fashioned to fit over an inwardly directed mouth opening to of the dolls head. This construction is best illustrated at Figure 1. Tube 49 which is of a semi-flexible character, normally being formed of rubber or one of the various synthetic rubbers, is carried downwardly so that its lower end is well below the lower end of plug member 26. At this point a sleeve or bushing 48 is employed, into the bore 58 of which the end of tube it is seated and forms a secure, air-tight joint. Bushing :33 may be made of any suitable material, having no resonance of its own, wood being a very suitable material for this. In the lower end of bushing 2-3 I provide the reed structure 52. Many arrangements of reeds may be used. The general proportions shown in Figure 2 have produced a very satisfactory, crying action when considerable air passes over it, reducing to a whimpering sound as the air velocity is decreased, which oc curs at the end of each intake cycle, as the last extension of the bulbous body is quite slow. Secured to the lower end of bushing 48, engaging preferably the outside thereof, is a flattened tube valve, which again functions as a Thomas valve.

Such a valve ofiers but little resistance to the 1 air coming in through'the system but positively prevents air being discharged outwardly through the tube 40. r

The operation of this equipment is substantially as follows: As pressure is applied to the resilientbody l6, and the "same is pressed in- Wardly, the action may belikened to that of squeezing a large bulb of the type used for horns and the like. The air which is displaced by this operation, has only one outward path, that is through the burping tube 32. The air passing through the tube expands the passage where the walls are together and causes the extreme end of the tube, as 36, to vibrate; and as it is unsupported at its extreme end, a very lifelike burping sound is provided.

At the completion of the air discharging cycle, if the pressure is then released from the dolls body, the natural resiliency of the heavy walled body, acting again as a bulb, tends to return to its normal extended position and air is then drawn 'in' through tube 40. This tube is the only passage for incoming air, in that tube 32 now provides a secure closure due to the flattening at 36. As the air passes downwardly through tube 40, it operates the reed mechanism at 52 and during the beginning of the cycle, where the maximum of energy is being expended by body it, a pronounced crying eilect is produced. Then, during the end of the intake cycle, when the air velocities are reduced, a whimpering sound is produced. As soon as the body it is again filled with air, valve 54 closes and the doll is restored to normal, ready to repeat the cycle.

Repeated operation of the burping mechanisi may build up air pressure within head 29, of the doll, if the eyes and the like are closely fitted. To overcome any such contingency, I provide the vent opening 56 in some convenient part of the dolls head. V 7

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of a burping and crying mechanism for dolls.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. A sound mechanism for dolls, comprising: a doll body having a throat in communication with a resilient body cavity and a sound mechanism housing positioned in said throat, said houshaving an upper p rtion of circular crosssection and having. a flange outwardly extending from its upper edge and having a thumb-like boss extending from one side spaced below said flange and said throat of said body having a restricted circular portion of less diameter than adjacent portions positioned between said flange and said boss thereby securing the housing in position, said housing being hollow and having lower depending portion out of alignment with the axis of. said upper portion and a burping tube positioned in said lower portion, said burping tube having a flattened upper end extending to upper portion of said housing having its lower end open to receive air from said houssaid lower end of said burping tube being supported by said housing in position aligned with the axis of said lower portion and the upper of said tube pressing against a wall of said upper portion curving the longitudinal axis of said tube. V

2. A sound mechanism for dolls, comprising: a hollow sound housing having an upper portion of annular cross-section and having a lower depending portion of annular crosssection out of alignment with the axis of said upper portion and a burping tube positioned in said depending portion, said burping tube having a flattened upper'end extending to said upper portion of said housing and positioning means between said depending portion of said housing and said burping tube disposing the lower end of said burping tube open to receive air from below, the upper end of said tube extending into said upper portion of said. housing and pressing against a wall of said upper portion which is oblique to the axis of said depending portion of said housing curving the longitudinal axis of said tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Number Name Date Crowell Apr. 20, 1943 Henry Apr. 11, 1944 Rekettye Feb. 9, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1895 France Oct. 27, 1924 

